I looked up with mild surprise at my wife, who generally shuns
nonfiction. "Not yet," I replied. "Just about. Why?"

"Well, the title's clever - The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of," she
said. "If you think about the Internet and microwave ovens and so on, we're
really living in a world that's almost sci-fi in its own right. So how has
science fiction shaped America's culture? It's not something I've thought
about a lot... But it sounds fascinating."

"It probably is."

"Huh?"

"Oh, it's an interesting read, all right," said I, looking at the blurb
on the cover skeptically, "But if you're looking to discover, um - 'How
Science Fiction Conquered The World' - then you're in for a disappointment.
It's a fairly straightforward history of how culture shapes science fiction,
not the other way around."

"...We see how the sudden freedom of the sixties counterculture allowed
Heinlein to write heavily-sexual books like Stranger In A Strange Land.
Likewise, there's much discussion of how the public's reaction to the
nuclear threat was reflected in the day's science-fiction — Disch explains
how the blasted wastelands of Bradbury's post-Hiroshima short stories
reflected the newly-felt terror of possible world obliteration, how the
paranoia of the Cold War was most keenly felt in Philip Dick's novels, and
how the final, cathartic bellylaugh of Dr. Strangelove may or may not have
helped people finally come to terms with the war — but if you're looking to
see how, say, the Twilight Zone's 'Time Enough At Last' sold bomb shelters,
you're out of luck.

"So it's not about how sci-fi shaped the world, but about how the world
shaped sci-fi."

"Precisely." I turned the page.

She frowned.

"But is it any good?"

"Oh, it's got its strong points," I allowed. "But most of it is old hat
to the sci-fi geeks who'd buy the book in the first place. Still, Disch has
some really interesting observations; his take on Star Trek as the
utopian office of the future is spot-on, and his extensive ruminations on
how science fiction intermeshes uncomfortably with political correctness
definitely opened my eyes. You know, I'd never noticed how many
science-fiction novels deal with total race harmony as a fait accompli - and
Disch explains why...

"Furthermore," I continued, "When he compares L. Ron Hubbard, a
huckstering blowhard who established his own religion, to Philip K. Dick, a
deeply religious author who almost started his own religion accidentally, it
really illuminates how cults are formed and by what people... And he uses
that as a basis to delve into the roots of the Aum Shinrikyo cult in Japan,
seeing how science-fiction influenced their outlook."

"You're contradicting yourself, darling," said my wife patiently.
"Between the Shinrikyo cult and Dr. Strangelove's effects on the
sixties, it sounds like Disch does discuss sci-fi's impact on the world."

"Maybe," I said, chewing ruminatively. "But those moments are buried in
so many other anecdotes that you tend to forget about them. Mostly, Disch
spends a lot of time justifying his opinions on his favorite authors; you'll
get an entire chapter devoted to how Poe is the first real sci-fi author,
another chapter on how Ursula Le Guin is polluting serious sci-fi with the
Norton Anthology — and his love/hate relationship with Heinlein takes up
almost three chapters when you add them together.

"The problem is that this book lacks a central focus; it skips from
author to author without much connection — and even when he's devoting an
entire chapter to, say, sci-fi as military strategy, there's no central
thesis that ties everything together."

"So is it good?" she asked impatiently.

"It's not bad," I said. "As a history of science fiction, it's definitely
a fun romp. And Disch's observations of sci-fi authors as a sci-fi author
are worth your while. But it really doesn't live up to the promise on the
cover."

"Oh," my wife said.

"So do you want me to keep it for you?" I asked.

"No," she said. "I've got better things to read."

William Steinmetz, MCSE
and A+-certified, worked as a chainwide buyer for Waldenbooks for five
years, picking out only the best computer books to send into malls across
America. He currently works as a freelance writer, doing reviews for
Amazon.com and editing various websites. He likes Magic: the
Gathering, roleplaying, and other ridiculously geeky activities.